07/01/2019 – 6TH INFORMATIVE TALK WITH CARLOS ALONSO

Last 7th of January, Carlos Alonso was invited to our 6th Informative Talk. Carlos Alonso is a senior geologist in exploration and mining, gave us the talk: La Experiencia de un Geólogo Modelador: Optimización de la información geológica mediante el uso de tecnologías avanzadas. The talk was divided in two parts. He first explained how he decided to study Geology and talked about his academic trajectory. He did his Geology Bachelor at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and decided to direct his career towards mining. During his career, he got the opportunity to start learning softwares to perform 3D geological modeling and decided to specialize on that to apply it within the mining sector. Nowadays he works as Business Development Manager for Seequent, the company which provides the software Leapfrog (www.leapfrog3d.com/), in London (UK).

The second part of the talk was focused on the 3D modeling itself: the different tools it provides and how it can be used to improve and optimize the geological study of an area. He also provided several examples, mainly from South America where he worked for several years, showing its different applications within geology: from 3D mapping of geochemical anomalies within a mine pit, to locating the subduction zones in the Andes Mountains using the information from seismic lines.

He concluded the talk making us aware that all geological data we might have can be modeled as soon as it can be codified and organized in a database. Moreover, any information contained within a database is better understood and can be better interpreted when we are able to easily visualize it, for instance using 3D modeling. Nowadays there are several softwares, like Leapfrog, that make 3D modeling much easier and friendly for all users and it is important for geologists to familiarize with them.